Breaking the News
by teamhp98
Summary: Post-Mark of Athena - "I hate being the bearer of bad news. People always glare at you, wondering if you're lying, or if you're just that cruel." Breaking the news to camp about Percy and Annabeth's fall somehow becomes Leo's job. And he hates it. But maybe, they'll learn something from it. After all, hope is really all what they have left. Rated K for mild language.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or anything else you recognize.

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Breaking the news

**LEO POV**

I hate being the bearer of bad news. People always glare at you, wondering if you're lying, or if you're just that cruel. And you know what? Maybe I am that cruel. I have to be considering how I just ruined your day, even though I'm probably the only one brave enough to tell the truth. And you know something's wrong when I'm the bravest. But let me explain my foul mood first, before I confuse you any further.

I blame Frank. I know that's harsh, but it IS his fault. Nobody at camp had to know, but he had to be all noble and good and _honest_. We had just lost Percy and Annabeth to Tartarus. We had barely survived ourselves, and then Frank had to go and tell Chiron. The _Argo II _was ready to go, the sails were raised, everything was fine, but he had to bring it up. We had all decided to grab a bite in the mess hall before we went to our personal places, and he asked us if we were supposed to tell anyone about Percy and Annabeth's fall. We all turned to Jason, and he just swallowed.

"We're supposed to tell Chiron, the director of Camp Half-Blood, but I don't want to be the bearer of bad news. I think Chiron thought of Annabeth as a daughter, and I'm pretty sure Percy was his favorite," said Piper, saving Jason from answering. "If we told them, we would be seriously bringing down their moral, which would not help in the upcoming fight."

"But they have a right to know. Yes it would hurt them, but they would be angry if you didn't tell them. Chiron is used to bad news, and camp shouldn't have expected all of us to come back alive in the first place," whispered Nico. Seriously, can he lower our spirits any further?

"Thanks for that, Captain Sunshine. That really made me feel good about Percy and Annabeth's chances," I said angrily. He said that they were not dead! How could he talk as if they were already dead? It's not helping Frank or Hazel!

"I think we should tell them. Clarisse warned me before we left that if anyone of us got hurt or captured, or anything remotely bad, we had to tell Camp. Because if we don't…well, let's just say it won't be pretty. Her dad is Ares after all," Jason said dryly. Well that's just peachy. And you know, I'm most likely going to be the one to tell Chiron, because Jason is too scared, Nico is pretty much dead on his feet (pun intended) and Frank, Hazel and Piper are too upset to say anything. Joy.

"Well let's get this over with," I groaned. Piper grabbed her goblet of water and threw it over the hot tray in the center of the table. Steam billowed out, and a small rainbow formed. I still think that's hilarious. We Greeks communicate via rainbow. And we have done so for centuries…and yet nobody has ever prank IM'd somebody. I mean come on? Think about it? You could 'call' someone at the most inappropriate time, such as when they're in the shower, or when they're sleeping, and you could just say you didn't know they would be doing that particular activity. The perfect excuse! We were talking about being the bearer of bad, no, TERRIBLE news. After Piper made her offering, she called Chiron. He was in the war council room, giving a lecture to the camp counselors. He was wearing his #1 CENTAUR t-shirt again, and looked exhausted. Seymour was growling at Clovis (who was sleeping, _again), _Butch was wrestling with Clarisse,

Katie was playing rock, paper, scissors with Lou Ellen (who turned her hands into _actual _rocks, scissors and paper), and everybody else, was trying (but failing) to pay attention to Chiron.

"Chiron!" Piper yelled through the image. He turned to look at us in shock and immediately stopped his lecture. Once everybody turned to look at us, looking very relieved might I just say, Chiron asked us what prompted our call.

"Can't a guy just want to speak to his camp director? Is that so wrong?" I asked dramatically, trying to get a laugh out of _someone._ "Remind me to never call camp again," I said to Jason. Piper told me to shut up.

"What's happened? Did you find Nico? Where are Percy and Annabeth? What's going to happen now?" Katie, daughter of Demeter, asked in rapid succession. Whoa! Is she on a sugar high from all the chocolate bunnies on her cabin's roof or something?

"Well to answer all your questions, it would take quite a while. By the way, I'm Hazel, daughter of Pluto," said Hazel, moving into the picture beside me. Her hair smells like apples and peaches; a weird combination that somehow managed to smell good. Then Frank stepped up behind her, and I came back to reality. She was not single, like most girls I like. I sighed mentally, and turned to Jason. He looked me in desperation, and I realized that Clarisse was glaring at him. Gods, now I have to tell them myself. Sigh. I took a breath in, and told them all that had happened.

"-and then Jason, Piper, Frank and I tried to get the Athena Parthenos into the Argo. We had just secured the statue when the floor crumbled and well…" I stuttered to a stop. I glanced at the others, and they all looked pale and upset.

"What? What happened? Tell us!" shouted Malcolm, Annabeth's brother. He looks like he hasn't slept in a week. He must have been worried out of his mind about Annabeth and the quest. I swallowed, and whispered so softly, they probably couldn't hear me.

"Percy and Annabeth weren't there after the floor crumbled. Only Hazel and Nico were there. They had…fallen into Tartarus," I stuttered out. I had grown to care for Annabeth, and even though she scared me, I respected and admired her. And Percy…well it was hard not to like him. He was always there to lend an ear, and was probably the most laid back demigod ever, besides me of course.

"What?! Are you sure? I mean, they can't have! Not them! Not even their luck could be that bad!" cried Nyssa, my half-sister. She along, with everyone else looked shocked and devastated.

"Does that mean they're dead?" whispered Kayla, Will's second in command for the Apollo cabin. Gods, I hope not. If all the stories were true, then Percy and Annabeth had survived too much to die now. It was not fair. They deserved a vacation! Stupid Gaea…

"No, they're not dead. I can sense that much. However, they have to be strong to survive it. And we would be extremely lucky if we got them back alive and sane. And no matter how strong those two are, and I believe they will be okay; the chances of them coming out the same person they were before they went in are extremely low. I would know," said Nico stepping up beside Piper. He managed to say all of that without falling over, which seems like a miracle. Someone gasped. Chiron paled and asked the question that was on everybody's mind.

"Nico, my dear boy, what happened to you?" he asked a bit desperately. Nico was as pale as a ghost, his face gaunt, and he looked like he had lost twenty pounds he couldn't afford to lose. That's not to mention the bags under his eyes, and that look in his eyes that made you think he was not completely there.

"Tartarus and imprisonment happened Chiron. But that's not important. What's important is that the six of us head to Greece as quickly as possible, close the Doors of Death, rescue Percy and Annabeth, and beat the crap out of the giants and Gaea. But we have to do this before Gaea fully awakens, which will happen in one month. So we have a deadline that we cannot afford to miss. That's all that matters right now, okay?" he said firmly. He looks upset I notice. Wait a second…weren't Percy and Annabeth the ones to find Nico and inform him of this messed up world? Oh gods, this must be extremely difficult for him! Wow, how could I have missed that? Piper's right; there _is_ something wrong with me. Nico sits down once again, and an awkward silence settles over everybody. I guess everybody is worried about Percy and Annabeth, and the war.

"You're right. Prissy and Wise Girl will be fine; they've survived worse. All that matters is that you lot get to the Doors of Death, close them, and save the lovebirds. We will make sure the Romans don't take over the camp, and we will try to make them see sense. And if they don't listen to us, well, Jason I'm sorry. But we will not bow down to them. We are NOT weak. We fought in a WAR. A bunch of Romans are not scarier than a drakon!" shouted Clarisse, banging her fist on the table. "We will win this damn war, even if it kills us, which it probably will. And I don't care about the giants, Gaea, or stupid Tartarus, we will WIN!" she screamed defiantly to us. She has tears streaming down her face, but she looks determined. And with a shock I realize that most of the camp counselors fought in the last war, and were probably not looking forward to the coming battle. They all had scars, and they most likely didn't want to get more. Even Clarisse is upset! I swear Gaea is ruining our lives!

"Damn straight. We will win, and we will all go on a long, well deserved vacation somewhere sunny and relaxing, like the Caribbean. And we will hopefully not have to fight in a war ever again. We will fight for us! For camp, the gods, the mortals, and FOR PERCY AND ANNABETH! And we will not fail!" I screamed. Clarisse was right. Now wasn't the time to be depressed and gloomy. Now was the time to fight and win! Gaea you are going down! You messed with the wrong heroes this time, and you will deeply regret it!

"FOR OLYMPUS!" shouted the campers. We're coming Percy and Annabeth! Just hold on…

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**A/N Hey! This is my first fanfic, so please give me some pointers! I would really like to improve and if there are any mistakes please tell me. Also I am in need of a beta. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, and please REVIEW! Constructive criticism appreciated. I am also not entirely sure I captured Leo's personality right, so please HELP! **

**Thanks for reading,**

_**yours in demigodishness**_

_**teamhp98**_


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